Abstract

Numeracy is everywhere these days. Every week my son’s school gives us a newsletter insisting that we should practice his numeracy skills whenever we get the chance: he should count ducks at the park and do sums with his food. In the name of early years numeracy, you can now buy soft toys shaped like this [Numberjack 5 – ‘he likes lots of cuddles’]. The present government seems as worried as the last one about adult innumeracy rates, which are commonly quoted in the media as a terrifying 20%. Yes: I have not seen the data myself, but apparently one in five adults in the UK today is innumerate. I don’t know what criteria have been used for assessment, but what I do know is that experts are paid to produce ‘maps’ like this to explain the phenomenon [map of the influence on functional numeracy,from the official website of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills].